Local News

WATSONVILLE—The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday got a first look at its financial picture since Gov. Gavin Newsom released his proposed budget in January, which provides a record $100 billion for schools and community colleges. The board also revised the...

WATSONVILLE—The Parks and Recreation Commission on Monday recommended Watsonville City Council turn down a $200 processing fee for murals and other public art. The fee would be used to defray the cost of city staff preparing reports on proposed public art for presentation to the...

On Aug. 14, about 400 students will return to Pajaro Middle School, more than a year after flood waters forced the campus to close. This includes seventh-graders who spent their first middle school year at a different school. On Friday, several workers were continuing to...

WATSONVILLE—Author Lisa Algee says that she has always considered herself a logical, “left-brain” thinker. After growing up in Southern California, Algee moved up the coast, attending Cal Poly University to major in biology before landing in Santa Cruz. She eventually received a doctorate in science...

WATSONVILLE—Willy Elliott-McCrea has been with Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County since 1978. During that time, he worked as a truck driver and a warehouse manager before becoming director in 1988. He saw the organization through a number of crises that increased the need...

In the early days of the AIDS crisis, a group of local leaders went to school officials to offer HIV prevention education. The response they got showed them how much that education—and of LGBT issues in general—were needed. “They said, ‘you don’t need to do HIV...

Prosecution and defense painted sharply varying pictures of Adrian “A.J.”Gonzalez in closing arguments  in Superior Court Tuesday, and a jury will now determine whether the 25-year-old can be released after serving his sentence for the 2015 murder of 8-year-old Madyson “Maddy” Middleton. Prosecutor Tara George...

After more than a year of closures due to Covid-19, museums, galleries and other cultural institutions across Santa Cruz County are once again opening their doors to visitors. To further encourage people to return, they have come together to create Santa Cruz Museum Month.  Throughout...

WATSONVILLE With a theme of Stars, Stripes and Strawberries, the Spirit of Watsonville Fourth of July Parade is set to start at 12:30pm on Tuesday at St. Patrick's Church and roll along Main Street to the Watsonville Main Branch of the Post Office. Jessica Beebe, Recreation...